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Crew chief
Drew Blickensderfer answers fan questions once a week.
Submit your question
here. |
Nov.
5, 2009 |
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2009 Q&A
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Q |
How did the FR9 engine compare to the current
Cleveland-based power plant?
Tim Stieve,
Wausau, Wis. |
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A |
The new engine was very similar to our current
one at Talladega. Performance-wise there wasn’t much difference.
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Q |
What did you think about the new Ford motor
after your run at ’Dega? And can we PLEASE see
it again in the 17 one more time before the end
of the season?
Jason Larocque,
Canada |
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A |
It was good to get a chance to run the engine
before next year but I don’t think we will use
it again this year.
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Q |
It looked like the FR9 did pretty well in both
Matt’s and David’s cars at Talladega. Did they
find any problems with the valvetrain when Doug
tore down the engines?
Chris Jones, Spanish Fork, Utah |
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A |
I am in Daytona testing with Matt, so I haven’t
talked to Doug personally. If there was an
issue, I am sure he would have called me so it
must have been fine.
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Q |
Do you guys run a different weight of oil during
qualifying then you do during the race to gain a
little more horsepower?
Jason Kines, Statesville, N.C. |
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A |
Yes, we use lighter oils to try and get more
horsepower for the two laps.
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Q |
Hey Drew, I compared the front ends of the new
Nationwide cars to each other. With the Mustang
and Challenger having this muscle car kind of
front and the Camry and Impala a more
conventional front end, wouldn’t this result in
an aerodynamic disadvantage for the Fords and
Dodges in terms of downforce?
John Singer, Miami, Fla. |
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A |
I worked on the Mustang front end a little last
year while in the Nationwide series. NASCAR took
all the makes to the wind tunnel to make sure
they were the same or as close as they could be.
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